The East and Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes (EHAGL) region is host to some 4.97million refugees and asylum-seekers, as at the end of March 2022. The majority are from South Sudan(2.28 million), the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia, with significant numbers from Burundi, Sudan, and Eritrea. The region hosts 67 per cent of the refugees on the African continent and 20 per cent of the global refugee population. The region also has12.37 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) mostly in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Burundi, displaced due to both conflict and natural disasters. Some 65,766 refugees have returned to their countries of origin so far in 2022
Communities across the Horn of Africa region are experiencing one of the worst drought situations in decades, following three failed rainy seasons, affecting especially Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. The Federal Government of Somalia in November 2021 declared the drought a national emergency. By the end of the first quarter of 2022, the drought situation had rapidly deteriorated, raising the risk of famine in pockets across the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia, and causing large scale internal displacements and some cross-border movements. Projections suggest that up to 1.4 million people could be internally displaced in Somalia within the next 6 months. Soaring food prices are also causing a serious food security crisis resulting in high malnutrition rates
Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees